


Legacy

by Mareel



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Birthday, F/M, Family, Friendship, Gifts, Irish, Loss, Love, Pre-Canon, heritage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-01 02:02:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13988136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mareel/pseuds/Mareel
Summary: It's his eighteenth birthday... Shepard can finally enlist!





	Legacy

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place on John Shepard's 18th birthday, as he was leaving home to enlist in the Alliance. It is Hannah Shepard's voice. 
> 
> This story is in canon with both [Overture](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12485960/chapters/28421740) and my [Always](https://archiveofourown.org/series/223643) series, since John Shepard's spacer background and parentage are the same in both. 
> 
> The story of Shepard's father's last mission (referred to here) can be found in [Ambush](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14973242)
> 
> Posted in honor of St. Patrick's Day (and a bit early for Shepard's birthday).

 

"John?"

For a moment I'm not sure he's going to turn to answer me before he steps through the door and into the rest of his life. But he does, one hand on the door control panel, the other clutching the small duffle that apparently holds everything he wants to take with him into his future. 

"Were you going to say goodbye?" 

He meets my eyes, a bit of defiance visible in his clear blue ones... Liam's eyes, I can't help but remember. Did he really think I wouldn't figure out what he was planning to do? We'd talked about his dream to enlist in the Alliance as soon as he could. I think he probably has had this planned for a long time, maybe even since he was fourteen... maybe even since the night he lost his father.

He drops his gaze, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "Yeah... just not here, I guess. I thought maybe i'd call from the shuttle dock... thought it might be easier. I don't know... " He pauses and finally looks up again, giving me that little half-smile he always gave me when he knew he'd been caught out at something. "How did you know?"

I was tempted to say something like _'I'm your mother - I know things_ ' but I owe him the truth here... I've always tried to be honest with him about everything, and this isn't the moment to be flippant. "I got a call from a friend of your father's... someone named David Anderson from the Alliance recruiting office. Maybe you've met him?"

He thinks about it for a moment before nodding. "I talked to someone who said he knew Dad, yeah... don't remember his name though. I guess he recognized the name Shepard and made the connection." He pauses for a moment, then plunges ahead. "Did he want you to try to talk me out of it?"

"I've never met him, but he served with your father and they became good friends. And no, he didn't try to get me to dissuade you.. just wanted to tell me that it seemed to him that Liam and I had raised one hell of a fine son." 

That seems to surprise him. But having known Liam, Anderson probably knew how stubborn Shepard men can be. It actually made me feel a little better about the whole thing, knowing that John will have someone on the inside kind of keeping an eye on him. 

After an awkward silence, John shifts the duffle to his other shoulder. "I should go."

"Can you wait just a moment? There's something I want you to have."

He's curious enough to want to know what it might be, so I duck into the bedroom and return with a small wrapped package. "Happy Birthday, honey. I'm glad I got the chance to give you this."

"I wasn't expecting any presents... and don't have much space... "

"Actually, it's from your father." I press it into his hand. "Please open it before you decide you don't want it."

Nodding, he tears off the Alliance-blue wrapping paper, revealing an emerald green velvet box. Flipping it open, he's speechless for a long moment. But I can tell he recognizes the contents when he brushes the back of his hand across his eyes. 

"This was Dad's ring... the Irish one. Like yours... Wasn't it his wedding ring?"

I glance down at my own hand. I still wear my ring - the mate to his - after all these years. "Yes... his claddagh ring."

He lifts the burnished gold ring from the box and slips it on his finger for a moment. It's large for him - he has my fine-boned hands. "But... they never recovered his body. How do you have it here?" 

It's my turn to wipe my eyes. "You can't wear rings in armour gauntlets, you know. They are fitted to your hands exactly. He left it here when he was on deployment... for safekeeping." I reach out a fingertip to touch the golden heart one more time. "Liam was so proud of being Irish. He wanted you to have this... if anything ever happened. He said he didn't have much else to leave to you."

John's voice is so low and quiet that I can barely make out the words. "...left me a hell of a lot more than this..."

I watch as he puts the ring back into its box and tucks it into a side zip pocket on his duffle. 

Before he can turn to go, I do something I haven't done very often since that night when he was fourteen and we cried together at the news of Liam's death. I hug him. Stiff in my arms at first, he finally returns the hug and pats my back before I let go. 

"Thanks, Mom..."

Determined not to cry again, I find a smile for my brave son.

"Be safe, son. I love you... and your father would be so proud."

"A lot to live up to... but I'll try to kick some ass for him."

That smile again, and then he's gone.

 


End file.
